A. Field
The invention relates to a method for producing a portable data carrier. Furthermore the invention relates to a semifinished product for the production of a portable data carrier and a portable data carrier.
B. Related Art
In many applications of portable data carriers, these data carriers carry out a communication with an electric device. In view of the strong increase of electric devices having a USB interface also the number of portable data carriers with USB interface is increasing. USB stands for universal serial bus and refers to a communication standard with which comparatively high data transfer rates can be achieved. For the establishment of a data connection between the portable data carrier and the electric device the portable data carrier is plugged into a USB jack of the electric device. In order to permit this, an area of the portable data carrier is embodied as a USB plug whose geometry and contact assignment are matched to the USB jack. A portable data carrier thus embodied is typically also referred to as USB token and can for example be used as a storage element or as a security tool.
USB tokens are as a rule produced by means of circuit boards which bear USB contacts on one side and have a memory chip on the other side. However, this type of production is relatively elaborate.
An alternative production method is known from WO 03/027946. There a method for the production of an electronic key is disclosed, which key has a module with an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit is connected to contact surfaces of the module which are embodied in such a way that they can be contacted directly by a USB jack. The module is produced in chip card technology. In order to achieve outer dimensions compatible to a USB jack the overall surface or parts of the module are provided with further material or inserted in an adapter.
It is the problem of the invention to embody a portable data carrier with as little effort and expenditure as possible in such a way that it can be contacted directly by a contacting element embodied in accordance with the USB standard.